The present invention relates to balls and more specifically to footballs.
It is well known that a good grip helps one to properly throw a football. It assists in imparting spin and also assists the thrower to accelerate the ball and to accurately direct the path of the throw. Inflated footballs are covered with leather hide which is tied on with a series of laces. To throw, a player grasps the ball with his fingertips on the laces. The laces enhance traction which improves the throw.
In recent years many footballs have been manufactured from soft elastomeric foam materials. Such balls do not have leather covers or laces, nor do they provide the traction afforded by laces. In some balls simulated laces have been molded on the surface of the ball. In practice these simulated laces produce little or no contribution to traction.
Several footballs have been designed with the object of increasing traction. Examples are evidenced in the following U.S. Pat. Nos.: Buckner et al 1,931,429, Riddel 2,194,674, Martin 4,772,020, and Winter 4,887.814. All of these balls have helical ridges and/or grooves. None of these balls permits the user to accurately reproduce (from one throw to the next) the longitudinal location of his grip on the ball.